Skill, labour, talent for MSMEs: A five-day training programme on entrepreneurship opportunities in agricultural and industrial waste management for environmental sustainability was launched at the Indian Council of Agricultural Research – Indian Agricultural Research Institute (ICAR-IARI) on Monday. The programme, inaugurated by Dr R B Singh RB Singh, past president at the National Academy of Agricultural Sciences, aims to raise awareness and impart knowledge about effective waste management techniques and increase the wisdom among youth about entrepreneurship opportunities, Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare said in a statement.
According to the programme details, it will cover topics including the production of biogas and bio-slurry, biofuel, role of PUSA decomposer for agri-residue management, extraction approach for bioactive compounds for industrial and agriculture application, biodegradation approach for waste management, blue-green algae as nutrient-rich formulation, utilization of sugarcane industry waste for diversified sectors, and horticultural waste as an organic pesticide.
In addition, case stories of Start-ups developed using waste materials, biomass utilization in terms of vermicompost, leaf-enriched compost, mushroom production, engineering intervention for animal block technology and pellet development, and value addition in ornamental using agricultural waste will also be covered under the programme.
Also, industrial visits will be undertaken at waste to electricity plant at Tehkhand in Delhi and National Thermal Power Corporation in Dadri, Uttar Pradesh. 49 participants have registered for the programme, of which 34 per cent are women.
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Singh in his remarks noted that zero waste is important for zero hunger and focus needs to be given on the 3 Ps — people, planet and prosperity. “Circular economy is the need of the hour to promote entrepreneurship and livelihood security for better health index of the people,” he said.
Overall, the government has been focusing on enhancing sustainability in businesses to reduce carbon emissions and help India achieve its target to reduce the emissions intensity of its GDP by 45 per cent by 2030 from the 2005 level and also achieve about 50 per cent cumulative electric power installed capacity from non-fossil fuel-based energy resources by 2030.
